Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/616/

Institutionalization as a bad aspect of camp

I think the lack of privacy was such a big thing. You couldn’t get away to have any kind of privacy. That does something. It was such a controlled community that way. And when you don’t have your own space, it does something to you, I think. It was a good thing that it did not last much longer, because as one of the fellows said in the testimony before the Commission [on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians], that even if it [the incarceration] was three or four years, people got used to being institutionalized, being taken care of. And it was showing signs of lack of discipline, lack of initiative on the part of people. And especially Issei, who had lost everything, anyway. They had no initiative to go and start life anew and it got harder [as they remained in the camps], so they were so much fearful when it was announced that the camps would close. They were afraid to go out. And this institutionalization was a bad aspect of the camps.


imprisonment incarceration World War II World War II camps

Date: August 26, 1998

Location: Virginia, US

Interviewer: Darcie Iki, Mitchell Maki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig was born in Sacramento, California in 1924. Her family immigrated from Kumamoto, Japan in 1919. During the Depression, the Yoshinaga family moved to Los Angeles, California.

During World War II, Aiko was incarcerated first at Manzanar with her husband’s family. She transferred to Jerome, Arkansas with her newborn daughter to be with her family. In 1944, the Yoshinaga family left Jerome and resettled in New York. She divorced and remarried a Nisei soldier. She went with him to Japan where he worked during the Occupation period. One of her husband’s co-workers was her future husband, Jack Herzig.

After her return to the United States, Aiko became involved in Asian Americans for Action. Aiko and Jack played a pivotal role in the Redress Movement through their research at the National Archives in Washington D.C. The documents they found were instrumental in the coram nobis case that vacated the convictions against Fred Korematsu, Min Yasui, and Gordon Hirabayashi. Aiko was also hired as the primary researcher for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, and then worked for the Department of Justice Office of Redress Administration to help identify individuals eligible for redress payments. 

She passed away on July 18, 2018 at age 93. (July 2018)

Ito,Willie
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Willie

Father making shell brooches at Topaz

(b. 1934) Award-winning Disney animation artist who was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Willie
en
ja
es
pt
Ito,Willie

The Dopey bank that survived the war

(b. 1934) Award-winning Disney animation artist who was incarcerated at Topaz during WWII

en
ja
es
pt
Uchimura,Sawako Ashizawa
en
ja
es
pt
Uchimura,Sawako Ashizawa

Evacuated to the Jungle

(b. 1938) Philipines-born hikiagesha who later migrated to the United States.

en
ja
es
pt
Uchimura,Sawako Ashizawa
en
ja
es
pt
Uchimura,Sawako Ashizawa

Captured by Guerillas after bombing of Pearl Harbor

(b. 1938) Philipines-born hikiagesha who later migrated to the United States.

en
ja
es
pt
Fujioka,Robert T.
en
ja
es
pt
Fujioka,Robert T.

Grandfather picked up by US Army

(b. 1952) Former banking executive, born in Hawaii

en
ja
es
pt
Yuki,Tom
en
ja
es
pt
Yuki,Tom

Father's business partner operated their farming business during WWII

(b. 1935) Sansei businessman.

en
ja
es
pt
Yuki,Tom
en
ja
es
pt
Yuki,Tom

Father was convinced the constitution would protect him

(b. 1935) Sansei businessman.

en
ja
es
pt
Wasserman,Fumiko Hachiya
en
ja
es
pt
Wasserman,Fumiko Hachiya

The lack of discussion about family’s incarceration in Amache

Sansei judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

en
ja
es
pt
Sekimachi,Kay
en
ja
es
pt
Sekimachi,Kay

Family that saved her belongings during World War II

(b. 1926) Artist

en
ja
es
pt
Fischer,Takayo
en
ja
es
pt
Fischer,Takayo

Passing Time in the Camps with Baton Twirling

(b. 1932) Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress

en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,Mitsuye
en
ja
es
pt
Yamada,Mitsuye

Her brother’s reasons as a No-No Boy

(b. 1923) Japanese American poet, activist

en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.
en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.

Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.
en
ja
es
pt
Fujie,Holly J.

Neighbor took care of her mother after grandfather was taken by FBI

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

Immediately after the bombing

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard
en
ja
es
pt
Kakita,Howard

Other family members not as lucky

(b. 1938) Japanese American. Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor

en
ja
es
pt